Class Reflections
The class of chairs
I thought that this chair making class was really fun. We did many things during those weeks. First we were drawing chairs from the computer. Then we were slowly making chair designs of our own, everyone came up with wild chairs. The chair that me and my friend drew looked like a jungle because the chair was not only for you but for a lot of animals dogs, cats, hamsters, beavers, monkeys, fish, snake, butterflies, and a lot more crazy wild animals.
Now we were actually making a chair. Our materials were cardboard, bamboo, tape, and paper. Those were not the normal thing that you would use to make a real chair but it worked. My group made a chair that looked like a banana in a way and I was actually able to sit on it without it crumbling apart or collapsing. This class was a wonderful experience for me. I loved it and I had tons of fun making the chairs.
Julia Hsu 712
This was a very great project. We all had lots of fun and were able to build our own piece of furniture. It was the greatest experiment I ever experienced.
It all started when Mrs. Kantrowitz (daughter of Mr. Kantrowitz, the extremely famous inventor saving humongous amounts of people) came to our class. I knew that we could learn a lot from her. She first taught us how to make our own booklets. During that time we also practiced 3-D drawing. It was exciting.
Next time we had class, Mrs. K took us to the computer lab. We researched/searched chairs online. We drew chairs that we liked. Later, we sort of took an online quiz about chairs and inventors.
We drew our fantasy chairs into our booklet. Basically, we sketched them in a nice manner. Then, we got a poster, upgraded our chairs, and drew them on the poster
After that, Mrs. K decided to make a real chair. That’s be a huge load of fun and creating. We all had to be very creative and decorative. Each person in the group had a job, either scaling, decorating, testing structure, and strength.
I think that our groups’ chair was impressive, but not satisfying enough.
1) we had a really small chair.
2) Our chair was basically a box but decorated.
3) we had too little creativity.
4) The chair was a bit low, and didn’t look like my imagined chair.
Overall, I didn’t like the chair much. But thanks to this project, I had lots of fun and now I can tell some of my friends I made my own little chair out of cardboard. Good for me.
Timothy H 712
Ms. K came to our class one day to start a chair project with us, where we would have to create a chair that could function. We first discussed different types of chairs, and created our onw chair sketchbooks. Everybody drew 3-D letters in their sketchbooks and found many different chairs online to draw.
After gathering ideas, we created models of our fantasy chairs, and then created posters for htem. Ms. K then told us to make another chair out of cardboard, this time within groups, and creating one that could work.
There were three categories that everybody had to strive for—stability, the scale and decorations. Each group created a chair following the three categories. Each chair, in the end, could hold one person’s weight.
The chair project taught us all about 3-D engineering and it showed us that teamwork was essential to creating all of the chairs. It was also fun to create the chairs, using our imagination.
Jason Han 712
For twelve weeks on every Tuesday, Mrs. K came in out math class and we worked on chairs. First we made sketchbooks with blank white paper and graph paper. We made sketchbooks so that if we got any ideas on chairs, we could draw them out.
After that, we went to the computer lab, where we could see images of chairs online so we got new ideas. We then made posters of a specific chair. My chair had the ability to fly, and it massages you.
Then we got assigned into groups to make a small model chair. I was with Jason, Brigid, and Timothy. I was in charge of the measurements. The model was going to be a 1:6 ratio to the real big chair so I had to take the measurements of the model.
Then our group started on the final big chair. For the chair, we used a lot more cardboard. For the base, we used triangles for support because they are stronger than squares. This is what we did in the twelve weeks.
Viraj Patel 712
I think that my experience with this whole chair program was pretty cool. First we did the sketchbook, although we didn’t work much on that. We also did the research in the computer lab. I thought that it was pretty interesting and cool, because there are many types of chairs. We then made posters for our dream chair. What was really cool was that we got to make a 3-D chair with our whole group. It was really fun, and it turned out reatlly good. We had trouble measuring the triangles to hold the chair up though. It was really funny when we put a real chair under our cardboard chair and everyone thought that it was actually stable. We were all laughing. I really like our chair, I think it has a great design, too.
Shanell-712
When first staring the program, we made a mini booklet so we could draw our ideas. The way we practiced drawing was by drawing our name on the front cover and page using 3d letters. After practicing on our names, we went on the school and our home computers to research about chairs and drawing them. Next, we pasted the sketches we drew in different categories of chairs. After researching different chairs, it was time for the whole class to design our own creation using the information we had.
The whole class designed their own dream chair and made mini models using paper and masking tape. After designing and making a model, we made posters for advertising our chairs. When finishing the chair posters, we showed them to our classmates. When finishing our models of our dream/fantasy chairs, we got into groups. The groups were mainly the table groups. Each group was to make another mini model. When the measurements were taken, each group was to take the small model and construct it into a life size model. The ratio is one to six. Each person was assigned to a different job. Some of the jobs that assigned were designer, person who checks the strength, and measurer. The materials that were given were cardboard, bamboo, duct tape and different papers to decorate the chair.
My group decided to make a very original chair with a container in the back to carry different things. We made a mini model of the chair and took the measurement and multiplied each measurement by six and the designers, Annie and Shanell though of the materials bamboo and cardboard. Next week, we had to over come an obstacle. Our bamboo was missing and when we had a cardboard box, we converted it into a chair by positioning it. We measured the hallow area in the chair and made triangles to make the chair stronger. The triangles will make the chair stronger and the able to support a certain amount of weight. After constructing the full life size chair, we took huge blue pieces pf paper and covered the chair in that color and added lace. The back container was purple and there are green stripes of the seat.
This is what I had experience while doing this program. I think this program is very fun and it allows you to be creative and it also allows you to express you ideas.
Emily Huang 712
This whole "adventure" of building a chair has been fun, exciting, and a great way to feel accomplished after finishing the goal. On the first day we met Ms. Kantrowitz, we learned about 3-D views and how to write block letters that looks like it "pops out". We made a little sketching book where we drew our first chair designs. Then, it became a model, and after that a poster to advertise for it. It was fun to build the small little chair models, but the real fun began afterwards. She told us we were building our own chairs, LIFE SIZE! Out of card board of course since we're only kids and can't work professional machines in school. Everyone had a group they belonged to, and a specific job. My group created the Banana Chair. It was the shape of a banana, wasn't all that comfortable, but the design looks great in my opinion. Everyone in our group contributed something to this chair, to this goal we accomplished. Because of Ms. Kantrowitz, we had a lot of fun.
I will never forget my experience of making my first chair that is sturdy enough to be sit on. I thought it would be very simple, but i learn that it is a long process. Making chairs is not only about creativity, but a combination of mathematics, arts and architecture. We used ratios to compare our models and our life size chairs. Even though it combines math, it was a fun and we realized we were learning at the same time.
The first thing we did was do research about different chairs. They are fancy and took a lot of work. Later, we design some chairs based on our imaginations. We used them to create an advertisement to convince others to buy it. Later, as a team, we need to create a model for our life size chair. We have to carefully measure out the ratio, so it will be equivalent to the life size chair. We learn that, we could not use fancy designs like the one we saw in our research, because we have to use simple materials. We all have different opinions, so we compromise on one. We use bamboos as the legs of our chair, i never thought it will actually be strong enough, but it did. We only decorate the seat of our chair, because we like the bamboos the way it was. I can't believe when the last class was over. The long process that lead us to make our chair, seems like the blink of an eye. I think making a finish chair was one of my accomplishments in life.
I learn that many jobs involve these skills, and we are lucky we learn them. I hope there will be more project like this in the future.
Yu Ging Zhang 712
For the last eight weeks on every Tuesday, we have Mrs. Kantrowitz. She is a designer and helps us create our own imaginary chairs. At the beginning of the meetings, we had to make posters of a we started doing more realistic stuff like creating a model of new chair that we favored. Then later on in the meetings, our chair that we wanted to build. After we had created our models, we chose the best one on each group and decided to create a real life chair out of cardboard and tape.
This group project was very fascinating, and I enjoyed it a lot. I also liked it because it taught our group to work together without getting into petty fights. I leaned that if you want to get something accomplished, you have to cooperate and compromise. You have to do the three C's: cooperate, compromise, and communicate well. In the end, we succeeded in creating a real life chair that you can sit on and rest on without it breaking. In the job of making the chairs, we each had a different job like making It stable, strengthening it, making it pretty, and the last job was measurements. I loved this CHAIR PROJECT!
Shriya Anandjee 7-12
712
Shaalini Ganesalingam
Like any other Tuesday,
With dreadful classes and lectures a many,
Enter we did that day to c1a.ss
And here we saw what looked like someone who didn't belong
Gossip did we for who was this lady with curly brown hair
And what does she bring,
Are there more books in her hands?!
Once we settled,
Though uneasy glances not at all rested,
She began to speak and explain she did of her presence
We began by maki'lg books then doodling did we.
3-d shapes and letters flew out of pages and pages,
And soon of course the gossip began,
Maybe this wasn't such a big bad.
She came the next week and the gossip began,
The blue-print created,
Our dreams conquered our hands.
She came the week after,
We had structures a mini,
Dreams brought to life,
And the gossip of course arose again,
Children smiling, laugh out loud,
Maybe this wasn't such a big bad.
She came the next week,
We made posters for our chairs,
She came the next time,
And we were up to making chairs
Not for mini things but larger the scale.
Imaginations bursted, Flames in the air,
And the gossip began already again,
Maybe this wasn't such a big bad.
Today we are done,
Our mission, our task completed,
Victory, victory Hurrah, hurrah
Along with our happiness, Sorrow clung in the air,
For today is the day our fun comes to an end.
And despite all the victory,
Our class spared some time to gossip once more
For this experience was such a great plan.
Shaalini Ganesalingam 712
Chairs? CHAIRS?! Chairs!
Murmuring swept through the room.
Chairs? CHAIRS?!
Books, too? BOOKS?!
Yes. Chairs and books.
Disbelief spreads through the room, like a plague.
Fun! Draw, staple, dream!
Time to go on computers.
Computers? COMPUTERS?!?!?!?!
Whoohoo! Computers!!!
No games. Research only.
More murmurs.
No games?
No games.
Paper? Check.
Scissors? Check.
Tape? Check.
Imagination? Check!
Work, work, work, like excited bees in a hive.
Cut, paste, think.
Cut, paste, draw.
Wonder. Dream. Create.
Design poster.
Draw, draw, draw once again.
Group up.
Think. Bicker. Decide. Sketch.
Cardboard, scissors, bamboo, and tape?
CHECK!!!!
Work, work, work once more.
Many new materials!
Lace! Cushions! All things comfortable!
Finished!
Heavy hearts and good byes fill the air.
Goodbye! We'll miss you, Ms. K!
Brigid Calhoun 712
I made a cardboard chair,
That made people stare,
So I took it to the fair
But never really took care,
And then I saw a hare,
And I wouldn't dare
To have a share,
'Cause he had too much hair,
So I gave him a sharp glare,
He ran away with a look of scare,
Dragging away his teddy bear!!!
These are the things I did with Mrs. Kantrowitz and my classmates during this project from beginning to end:
First, we made our own booklets to draw our own chair styles and designs and wrote our name in 3-D shapes.
Later, we made our chairs we did together using cardboard but this time they were 6 times bigger than our small models.
Then, we made small chair styles to help us with creativity and add functions to the chair.
Last but not least, Mrs.Kantrowitz sat on it and said it was great and that meant we did it, we made our own chair and really had fun.
After, we got into our groups and we drew another type of our own chair and thought about the functions it would have.
Finally, we colored our chair and designed it and we all sat on it one by one to check if it could hold our weight.
Farzana Manjra 712
Every Tuesday during math class, we would have Mrs.Kantrowitz come and do cool things with us, such as making our own sketch books and writing our names in them in a nice big font.
Then we started to draw unique chairs with crazy purposes. It was fun and we even got to create a model of our chair. We made posters advertising the chair and made up prices for it as well. It was a fun project to work on. Making up own creative chairs was a fun activity.
After advertising our chairs, we started to make life size chairs. This is very fun. We used cardboard, tape, bamboo sticks, and colored paper.
Eventually, our chairs were decorative and also strong enough to sit on and hold our weight. In a couple of weeks, the whole room was filled with exotic chairs. Making our own chairs was a fun and creative experience.
Frank Chan 712
During the few weeks, we had a special class with Mrs.Kantrowitz.
It was a very nice experience. First, we made a booklet. It was made up of white paper, and graph paper. We learned how to write our names using block letters. When we were getting used to writing it, we wrote our names on the front of our sketch books.
In the next class, we researched different types of chairs.
There were many different uses of the chairs too. Too remember some of these awesome chairs, we sketched them out and printed them, and made a collage of chairs together.
Then we used paper and tape and made our own chairs. We had several materials to use for it. We also made advertisements to advertise the chairs.
In our groups, we thought about a chair we wanted to make.
This time, we used cardboard and people can actually sit on it!! It had to be sturdy enough to hold at least one person.
Mabel Poon 712
